


Apathy

by pitterpatterpot



Category: Original Work
Genre: Attempt at Humor, F/F, Multi, Romance, Slice of Life, Someone is an empath not saying who, this is better than it sounds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 22:23:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18061280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pitterpatterpot/pseuds/pitterpatterpot
Summary: “I’m moving out.”The moment Kay is left with an empty apartment it seems as though she’ll finally receive solitude. Until the building’s owner moves his niece in. Just to be clear, the odd girl would not be welcomed if not for the fact Kay can’t pay the rent on her own…Except for the fact that the odd girl is more interesting than she thought.And cuter.





	Apathy

**Author's Note:**

> First ever posted original work. Also on Tumblr.

It’s such a nice evening that I can almost ignore the girl with the birds-nest hair talking to Leo on the couch.

 

“Hey,” Leo glances at me, “this is Elinora, John’s niece? Elinora, this is Kay, my cousin. I’m moving out and your uncle recommended you as someone who’d be interested in splitting the rent of the apartment?”

 

She gives a nod. I’ve been here for three damn minutes and the girl with a mob of curly brown hair, glasses with a thick black frame and a face full of freckles has said nothing. Just keeps shrinking into her hoodie every time I look at her.

When Leo said he was moving in with his girlfriend I was fine. Until the bastard decided to tell me that he was moving in with her, not the other way around, so I now need to scramble to find a new roommate.

It’s even less perfect when the only person willing to move in is the niece of the landlord.

 

“You really didn’t need to hand in a CV,” Leo grins, looking at the sheets of paper. “But it will be good for Kay to have your contact information.”

 

You probably don’t want hear a boring story like this.

 

“You’re studying botany at Melbourne uni? Cool. Kay is doing an engineering course there too-“

 

After all, two girls living in Melbourne? You don’t want to hear about my life. I’m a complete stranger. I’m normal.

 

“But why did you suddenly need to move out of your last place?”

 

“I’m not very social,” she fidgets, tucking her hair behind her ear.

 

But this girl isn’t.

 

____

 

 

“You need to actually talk to her.”

 

“Leo-“

 

“You’re living together!”

 

“She doesn’t want to talk!” I snap, slamming my cup on the kitchen table. “I swear, it’s like whenever I go near her she runs out of the room! And what kind of a name in ‘Elinora?’ What, are we in England or something?”

 

Chewing his lip, Leo settles me with a look. “She’s been here for a week.”

 

“Yeah,” I scowl. “And she never leaves her room. It’s great, I have the place to myself, but she could at least say when she’s leaving so I know she hasn’t been fucking kidnapped-“

 

The door clicks open, and, like a ghost, Elinora drifts in. She freezes when she notices me, eyes flicking between us before she finally hangs up her wet jacket and troops towards her room.

 

“Elinora!” Leo twists in his seat. “Got caught in the rain, huh?”

 

Jolting, she looks back at him, dark eyes soft and questioning. She gives a single nod before ducking into her room.

 

Slowly, I turned to Leo. “See?”

 

Shrugging, he slouches in his seat. “You’re both twenty-two, you should have something in common. She’s studying plants, you’re studying…”

 

“Engines. Technology. The very stuff that’s killing plants!”

 

Leo bites his lip. “Maybe don’t mention that.”

 

“Whatever. I’m bringing Charlie over tomorrow anyway, so if she’s out of the way-“

 

“What?” Leo bolts upright. “You’re bringing someone over? Jesus Christ, at least give her some warning!”

 

“It’ll be fine,” I wave him away. “It’s not like she’s going to come out of her room.”

 

____

 

 

“No, Leo,” I mutter, my phone crushed between my ear and shoulder as I force my key into the lock. “Charlie couldn’t come over- no, that is not a good thing!”

 

I bump the door open with my hip. The lights are still on, rain pattering against the window-

 

And Elinora is pressed against the kitchen table, holding onto the belt-loops of the blonde girl she’s kissing.

 

I drop the keys.

 

Both their heads jerks to look at me, Elinora’s eyes wide and her glasses nearly falling off the end of her freckled nose, her hand curling around the hip of the other girl, Elinor’s own shirt pushed up to show her soft stomach.

 

Shit.

 

I wasn’t supposed to walk in on this.

 

“Sorry,” the blond girl murmurs, shrugging on a jacket and pushing past me to exit through the door.

 

Am I supposed to stop her? I’m not stopping her. She closes the door, and Elinora straightens her glasses, face as blank as usual.

 

“So,” I slowly move forward, opening the fridge. “Girlfriend?”

 

“No.”

 

Seriously? “Just a friend?”

 

“No.”

 

I slam the door shut, and she flinches. “Look, if you want to bring strangers over to screw, than that’s your own business, but-“

 

“My ex-girlfriend,” Elinora cuts in, gripping her own arms, eyes shining. “We broke up. That’s why I moved.”

 

“Oh,” Christ, I’m an asshole. “Are you two getting back together?”

 

“No,” Elinora looks down, scuffing her shoe against the floorboards. “She just… I don’t know. Sometimes she wants me again.”

“Sometimes?” I shouldn’t get in the middle of this, this isn’t any of my business. “What, do you two break up a lot?”

 

Wrong thing to say. Definitely a wrong thing to say when Elinora curls in on herself, shoulders hunching.

 

“Look,” I place the milk back in the fridge, “I’m not going to pretend this is any of my business, but did she ask you to move out?”

 

Elinora says nothing, but gives a small nod.

 

“And then she came back here to kiss you? Nothing else?”

 

Another short, sharp nod.

 

“Why did you move out?”

 

“…I wasn’t ready to sleep with her and she said that if we weren’t going anywhere that I should just…”

 

“Yeah,” I close the fridge again. “That’s not right.”

 

“I know,” Elinora snaps, head whipping up.

 

I step back, and she hesitates before her face smooths over once again.

 

“I know,” Elinora rubs at her face. “It’s just… she’s incredibly hard to say no to. I’m glad that I moved out. She won’t be back again.”

 

“Right,” I edge towards the stairs. “You know my bedroom is upstairs, right? I mean, it’s basically the attic, but if you need anything…”

 

I don’t know where I’m going with this, but she gives me a thumbs-up and a small smile. I mean, was I supposed to say more? She’s been here three weeks and that’s the longest conversation we’ve had.

That girl won’t come back, right? The blonde one?

Elinora probably won’t bring her over again if she’s glad they’re done.

Right?

 

____

 

 

“Can I buy groceries?”

 

“What?” I twist my torso over the couch, Elinora standing in front of the fridge in the kitchen.

 

She turns from the fridge, lips twitching up in amusement. “Can I buy groceries? I want to cook and there’s only milk and an old banana in here.”

 

“Sure,” I blink. “I just haven’t really gone shopping lately. Get whatever you want.”

 

“Great,” she bobs her head.

 

“And some of my friends might come over later to study,” I push my laptop off my lap. “Cool?”

 

She just nods, and closes the fridge. She keeps asking more stuff; where to put things in the bathroom, where the spare key is and where I like the plates. It’s taken three weeks, but after that girl visited Elinora's loosened, like she’s relieved. Like she’s finally relaxed.

I don’t like that blond girl.

 

____

 

 

“Where is she?” Samatha grumbles, staring at the front door.

 

“Calm down,” I yank her back, Leo coughing as she lands on top of him.

 

Serves him right for taking up over half the couch.

 

“Didn’t you say she’s been out since nine?” Jack asks, flipping through his notes. “It’s six now.”

 

“Really? I had no idea. Thank you, oh so much, for telling me the time.”

 

“Alright,” he glares, and turns back to his book.

 

But he’s right; she said she was just going out shopping…

 

We all whip around when the door opens and Elinora pauses, carrying four large bags of grocery, at all our stares. It’s not pathetic to be relieved, right?

 

“Hi!” Jack springs up, skipping over to her. “Let me help you!”

 

He snatches a bag from her right before she jumps back like a shocked rabbit, eyes wide. Ignoring it, Jack heaves the bag over to the kitchen, laughing and chatting as he does.

I haven’t told him she’s gay yet. I don’t want to spoil the surprise of her turning him down.

 

She edges around him, warily glancing at him as she puts all the food away. She wasn’t kidding when she said she’d go shopping; there’s vegetables, meats, flours and spices and packets of other stuff I can’t even name. She whirls around Jack, placing everything into either the pantry of fridge.

I've never needed to use the pantry before. Leo and I were both crap at cooking.

 

“Hey,” Samantha pouts at Elinora as she walks towards her room. “Want to watch a movie with us?”

 

Hesitating, Elinora glances to me, than back at her door.

 

“Come on,” Jack grins. “We’re picking a Marvel movie.”

 

“DC is better!”

 

“Leo, you’re out of the group.”

 

Elinor creeps forward, and sits next to me, her eyes darting around. I mean, god, she’s like a rabbit on steroids. She looks the part, too. With her darkly tanned skin, nest of brown hair and button nose she just needs to hop away for the look to be complete. I mean, she looks like she’d rather stay in her room forever than sit out here and watch a damn movie.

 

Leo whistles once she sits besides me. “I never realised how tall you are, Kay.”

 

“Never realised?” Samantha snorts. “She’s six feet tall.”

 

“I am not,” I snap.

 

“Yeah,” Jack narrows his eyes at us. “Elinora, you’re what, five feet and a half?”

 

“I’m…” she leans away from him. “I’m one-hundred and fifty-six centimetres? I don’t know feet…”

 

“I’m one-hundred and seventy,” I glare at Samantha. “Not six feet tall.”

 

“Still pretty tall. I mean, Elinora only comes up to your chin-“

 

“I might go get my mixer,” Elinora stands, swallowing, edging towards her room. “Can I unpack my cooking appliances?”

 

Everyone turns to look at me.

Shit.

Has she unpacked anything yet?

 

“Yeah,” I scowl. “Go ahead. Jesus, you don’t have to ask.”

 

She practically sprints to her room, the door slamming shut behind her. We can all hear boxes shifting around inside.

 

“Wow,” Leo frowns at me. “You are terrible.”

 

“I didn’t know she had that stuff!”

 

“Didn’t you help her move in?”

 

I look away.

 

“Kay!”

 

“She’s weird,” I hiss, leaning forward. “It’s like she knows everything I’m thinking! She’s here whenever I’m happy and then all nervous and jittery when I’m mad! She must be picking up on my moods or something.”

 

“I think she’s cute,” Jack shrugs. “In a small, bookish kind of way.”

 

“Of course you do,” Samantha turns away, and Jack glances at her with concern.

 

I’m not even going to begin explaining what’s happening between those two.

 

“I’m going back to work,” I pick up my book. “Math is kicking my ass.”

 

“So nothing new, huh?” Leo pokes my side.

 

“I am so glad you moved out.”

 

____

 

 

Shit. Shit, were numbers designed to to make any sense? It’s three in the morning, I haven’t got through even half of my equations, and the more I stare at it the more I swear it’s all just some kind of sick joke. I even had to move upstairs; I can’t keep the lights on in the kitchen when Elinora is trying to sleep. I mean, she goes to bed at nine every night after watering her plants and doing exactly what she does every other night. You’d think she’s some kind of robot with the way everything is-

Okay, yeah, I have to get back to work.

Even if I’m going to fail. Half-way into the semester and I barely know a thing.

 

“Um… Kay?”

 

I turn. Elinora’s head in peeking above the hatch from the stairs, eyes bleary and weirdly large without her glasses. Darker, too. She clampers up, her orange shirt getting stuck in the corner, and she scrambles for a moment before setting it free. Orange is good on her. It shows all the different browns and black in her curly hair, shows how dark her caramel skin is, even if her black freckles stand out all along her arms and face.

 

“You look good in orange,” I rest my chin on my knees. “Are you Italian or something?”

 

Her eyes glance up to me, amused. “My mother was from Brazil. That’s where I get the skin and curly hair. But my father’s parents are German.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Seriously. He’s blonde with blue eyes. Everyone always asks if my sister and I are adopted.”

 

“You have a sister?” I know literally nothing about her.

 

“Yeah,” she pushes my books to the side. “Isabella. She’s two years younger than me. Want some help?”

 

“Depends,” I throw my notes down, running my hands through my hair. “Do you understand any of this?”

 

She spares it a glance. “Yes. What? I’m studying botany, which is plant science. I gotta know some math to make that work.”

 

“Did I wake you?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Damn it.

 

“Don’t feel bad,” she orders, screwing up her nose. “I was going to wake up anyway. I have insomnia; I usually wake up for a few hours every night.”

 

“If that why you’re so quiet?” I pass her a pencil.

 

She’s in my room, biting my pencil while she looks over my notes, holding the page close to her face to make up for her lack of glasses. I must be tired if I’m letting her do this; Leo was never allowed in my room. Never allowed on my bed, or to even look out the giant window. Elinora simply sat down, not even bothering to look out the giant window at the street or at the posters I have on roof. Most people would kill for a room in an attic; I’m away from the noise and it’s bigger than her room, and my big isn’t a single like hers.

But she says nothing. She just reads my notes.

 

“Okay, see here?” She presses against my side, reclining on my pillows with me. “You’ve put the six in here when it was supposed to be the four. You’ve got the formula right, you just keep mixing up the variables. Probably because of how late it is.”

 

“Right,” I take my notebook back, and she’s left feedback for every equation I’ve done.

 

“You don’t talk either.”

 

“What?”

 

Turning to me, she shrugs. “Every time I enter the room you want me to leave.”

 

Crap. “That’s not-“

 

“I get it,” she cuts me off. “This is your space, and I’m a stranger. And when you’re friends were over you barely said anything, so I’m guessing you’re naturally not chatty. And I’m quiet because I’m both tired all the time and get anxiety around people sometimes.”

 

“You sound fine now,” I snatch my pencil back.

 

“I’m deeply sleep deprived,” Elinora grabs another sheet. “And it’s easier for me to talk to people at night, I don’t know why. And you kind of seem a lot less standoffish, so that’s a bonus. Besides, once I spend some time with people it gets a bit easier. It just usually takes me a few hours to work up the courage to talk to someone new, and we’ve technically been living together for a month, and you’ve been nicer, so…”

 

“Sorry.”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

“It’s not,” I pass her a red pen. “You know you can put stuff around the apartment, right? Your plants and everything? I’m guessing they’d get a lot better light if they weren’t just shoved in your room.”

 

She whips around, eyes wide, and I just lean back against the headboard. “Really? I swear that they’re all low-maintenance and you won’t have to water them or anything and I have a herb bowl so it’ll actually save us money and-“

 

“It’s fine,” I cut her off. “Jeez, you can talk when you’re tired, huh?”

 

“I literally loose all filters. You know I’ve really hit the wall when I laugh for no reason.”

 

“Right,” grinning, I pick up a method booklet. “Can you help me work through the last few questions?”

 

“Of course,” Elinora stretches her legs out in front of her. “I probably won’t be able to go to sleep for another hour or two anyway.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Yeah,” scribbling across the page, she crosses out at least three equations. “Usually I read or something. Okay, so I think I can see where your most common issue is. You keep switching around these variable here, see…”

 

____

 

 

“Mph…”

 

My arms are wrapped around something warm and soft, a heavy weight on my chest. It’s winter in Melbourne, it shouldn’t be this warm, even with a blanket and a person wrapped over-

Sitting up, I look down, and Elinora just continues to snore against my chest, both of us lying on our sides, legs entangled and somehow the blankets ended up pulled over us and my notes are spread everywhere.

 

“I… Elinora?”

 

“L’me sleep…”

 

Shit. Shit, what am I supposed to do? She rolls over, curling up, and just bunches the blankets further around her, her glasses on the floor and hair a mess. I could move her, or wake her up, or…

Or I could just leave.

Yeah. I’ll just leave. That’s alright, right? I mean, she’s said before that she doesn’t have any classes or work on Thursdays.

 

It’s fine.

 

____

 

 

It’s one. One in the afternoon. How can she still be asleep? It’s midday! She’s just lying there, hugging my favourite pillow!

 

“Alright,” I drop my bag down and crawl across my bed. “Elinora! Nora! Ellie! Nellie! Lin! Wake up, for gods sake!”

 

Snorting, she jerks up, blinking moisture and grub from her eyes. It’s kind of funny, she keeps turning around, getting tangled in the blankets, until she finally sits up.

 

“Oh, hey,” she croaks, rubbing her eyes. “Did you hand in the math?”

 

“Yeah,” god, she’s ridiculous. “I got full marks. I get to start a project now that my theory is done.”

 

“Cool,” squirming, she manages to free one leg from the nest, arching towards the edge. “I- wait. What time is it? And day?”

 

“Thursday. It’s one.”

 

“Cool,” lurching, she tumbles off the side, rising to her feet, her curly hair fluffed up enough to defy gravity. “So I didn’t miss anything. I’m gonna eat and water my plants… I’m sorry, by the way, for sleeping and-“

 

“It’s fine,” I chuck pillows back on my bed. “It’s thank to you that I might actually pass my project.”

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“I’m learning about transport technology so that I can join the research team once I graduate, so I mainly look at stuff like designing new ways of transportation like how to make it cleaner and safer and stuff. I’m just learning the basics now though.”

 

A lot of basics. Like, a lot. Learning about how to research, design and then develop transportation systems and vehicles isn’t easy. It’s fucking hard.

 

She widens her eyes. “Really? That’s so cool!”

 

Wait, what? “But I’m killing the environment?”

 

“Well, yeah, technology is killing the environment, but you’re working out how to make it safer and stuff! That’s awesome!”

 

Huh. Okay. Maybe we can talk more about this kind of stuff if she isn’t going to call me a plant-killer.

 

“Right,” I sit on my bed, crossing my legs under me. “What’s botany like?”

 

“Oh!” She flitters around the room, looking for her glasses. “Really good! I mean, I’ve always loved plants so that’s fantastic. I’d love to either teach it at a university level but also maybe be a plant breeder? I haven’t really decided yet but not too many people get into the field and more research still needs to be done so if I wanted to go in another direction there’d definitely be openings and-“

 

She just keeps talking. We’ve been living together for a month, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard her ramble like this before.

 

“Sorry, sorry,” she scoops her glasses off the floor. “I’m going to go get some breakfast, or lunch. Want anything?”

 

“I’m good.”

 

She patters downstairs, moving as if filled with sugar. Maybe all this time she really was just sleep deprived.

 

____

 

 

“Kay, your friend ran into her room again.”

 

I slam the pizza box shut. “Stop asking her if she wants to watch a movie with us!”

 

“I didn’t!” Jack holds his hands up, Leo and Samantha lounging on the couch behind him. “She walked into the room, looked at us, and then bolted!”

 

I don’t have time for this crap. I shove Jack back towards the couch, knock on Elinora’s door and walk in. She flinches from where she’s curled on her bed, then relaxes.

 

“Hey,” she closes her book.

 

“Hey,” I kick her bed-frame lightly, pocketing my hands. “Wanna watch a movie? You won’t have to talk to anyone or anything.”

 

Hesitating, Elinora bites her lip. “I’m not… good, with groups of people.”

 

“You slept with me literally two days ago and haven’t stopped talking since.”

 

A red hue flushes up her neck, reaching and spreading across her cheeks. “That was different. It wasn’t on purpose, and I had to live with you for a month to be able to talk to you like this.”

 

“True. But if you don’t at least sit with them then you’ll never get used to them.”

 

I stare at her; she stares back. I stare harder; she sags.

 

“Fine,” Elinora grumbles, dragging a blanket with her.

 

“Great.”

 

She huddles in one of the armchairs, wrapping the blanket tightly around her. We don’t have proper heating in here, and the windows aren’t exactly insulated or anything. It’s either blankets or freeze to death. I collapse next to Leo, snatch the bowl of popcorn from his hands and hold it out to her. She takes a handful, huddling back, and I chuck the bowl back to Leo. He keeps glancing at me weirdly.

Halfway through the movie (something about spies, I don’t know) the main woman talks on the phone in another language and Elinora cough up half her popcorn laughing. She’s never done that in front of people before, but she just keeps snorting, picking pieces of wet popcorn off her blanket.

 

“What?” I can’t help but smile.

 

“She’s-“ Elinora snorts again, waving to the screen. “She’s butchering Portuguese! She’s not even saying anything relevant to the movie, the subtitles are all _lies!_ ”

 

“Wait,” Jack pauses the movie. “You can understand her?”

 

“Kind of,” Elinora shrugs, picking at a burnt kernel. “She’s speaking European Portuguese, not Brazilian, but a lot of words are kind of familiar. She’s basically just pretending to be talking to someone.”

 

“That’s so cool,” Samantha grins. “So you’re Portuguese?”

 

“More Brazilian-Australian?” Elinora shifts further under her blanket, eyes shifting away. “My mum was from Brazil, and I spent a lot of time there as a kid.”

 

“And your dad’s parents were from Germany,” I lean over the arm of the armchair, helping to pick at popcorn. “Do you also speak German?”

 

“No, my dad only speaks english so I never needed to,” she collects the popcorn I picked in her hands, placing it all in a tissue. “I learnt Portuguese from my mother, and she wanted my sister and I to take classes so we wouldn’t forget the language. My dad didn’t care as much I think since all our German relatives, my grandparents, already live here and speak English.”

 

“Cool,” I settle back.

 

It takes five minutes before my phone rings. Samantha passes it to Jack who passes it to Leo who chucks it at me.

 

“It’s Charlie,” Leo quips, shoving popcorn into his mouth.

 

“Right,” I stand. “I’m just going to take this. Want more popcorn?”

 

“Yes,” Leo shakes the bowl.

 

“I was talking to Elinora. Get it yourself.”

 

Elinora shakes her head, and I walk to the bathroom. As soon as the lock clicks closed I answer, sitting on the toilet seat.

 

“Hey!” Charlie shuffles on the other end of the line. “Sorry about the other night. The movie sounded good.”

 

“Yeah,” I glance at the door. “How are you? How’s your tech class?”

 

“Oh, it’s good! I was just calling to ask if you got the notes from the lecture on Friday?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Would you mind texting them to me? I ended up missing it again!”

 

This is the fourth lecture. The fourth time I’ve had to send notes. It’s somehow not as fine as it used to be.

 

“No problem,” I stand. “Anything else?”

 

“Uh, no-“

 

“Cool,” I unlock the door. “I’ll see you Monday.”

 

“Alright? I’ll see you then!”

 

I pocket my phone in my jumper, and collapse back down on the couch. I snatch the bowl from Leo and hold it out to Elinora again. Smiling, she takes another handful before settling back, huddling under her blanket.

 

____

 

 

“So… Elinora’s cute,” Leo mutters, cleaning the bowl in the sink.

 

But she’s gay. “And?”

 

“And nothing,” Leo glances towards the bedroom door. “It’s just… you’re nice to her.”

 

“I’m nice.”

 

“No you’re not,” Leo loads the dishwasher. “But you’ve been nice to her. And she’s opened up a lot to you. And you haven’t seen Charlie in, what, a week?”

 

“Where are you going with this, Leo?” I scowl, setting a towel down. “Just because she’s another girl living near me doesn’t mean I’m going to jump her.”

 

“I know that!” Leo whispers harshly. “Just… she seems nice. That’s all.”

 

“Whatever.”

 

“I mean it. Does she always cook dinner and stuff?”

 

“Only when she has time. She’s the reason there’s any food in here at all, especially since she loves to cook deserts-“

 

“There!” Leo whirls around. “You never talk about people like that! You barely ever talk at all! Between the two of you, you and Elinora should just sit in silence, but no! You apparently talk!”

 

“She’s chatty!”

 

“No, she’s not!”

 

“Not in front of you she isn’t!”

 

Leo leans back, grinning smugly.

 

“Clean the rest yourself,” I throw a towel at him, and stalk towards the couch.

 

“Yeah, sure, I’ll clean up the delicious dinner we just got. Great.”

 

“Just shut up!”

 

____

 

 

“This café is awful.”

 

Elinora snorts, sipping her chai latte. “Sure, insult the place we live on top of, that’ll lead to good things. Besides, their chia lattes aren’t bad.”

 

“We get woken up at five in the morning when they open,” I sip my coffee, nodding to the counter. “That’s the reason why no one wants to live here. Too noisy.”

 

It’s a nice morning. The sun is shinning, neither of us are busy this morning and, even though I’ve never even eaten here before, it isn’t too bad. They give plenty of cream with their scones.

Elinora’s eyes flick up at the sound of the doors bell. She glances at me and then away again, slouching back in her chair, holding her mug close to her chest.

 

“Kay!”

 

Charlie.

 

“Hey,” I turn in my seat.

 

Without hesitating, Charlie walks over and Elinora starts shifting again like she did when we first met. I tap her foot under the table, and she sips her drink to hide a smile.

 

“You must be Kay’s new roommate!” Charlie pulls a chair over to our table, setting her handbag on the floor and flicking her black braid over a shoulder. “How old are you? Eighteen? You can’t be any older than eighteen.”

 

“I’m twenty-two.”

 

“No!”

 

Elinora sips her drink and glances away. I’ve never seen her so... unimpressed before, except for when we first met and she acted like a robot. Charlie immediately flicks her attention back to me, leaning forward, almost blocking off Elinora completely.

 

“So,” Charlie waves her hand. “How did you do so well in the last assignments? I need to know.”

 

“Elinora helped me with the math. She’s a genius at it.”

 

Charlie looks at Elinora for barely a second before turning back to me, dismissing Elinora completely. “That’s great! Is she also doing a course like ours?“

 

“No,” Elinora cuts her off, “I’m not. I’m studying botany; you might know it better as horticulture.”

 

“How nice! What are you planning to do once you finish?”

 

“Not sure yet, maybe teach or-“

 

“Ah, if you can’t do it then teach it!”

 

Elinora quickly looks back down into her cup, a flush creeping back up her cheeks. I know Charlie can be stingy; it’s one of the reasons why I first liked her. But really? Comments like that are... you just don’t knock people down like this. Elinora leans back in her seat, as far away from Charlie as possible, looking like she’s had a bucket of cold water dumped on her.

 

“Charlie,” I sit forward, “do you need any help with some of our work? I’m sure Elinora would be able to find time to help teach you.”

 

Charlie hesitates, and Elinora holds back another small smile. Glancing between us, Charlie picks up her bag again.

 

“I might go do some of that work, actually,” she pushes her seat in. “I’ll see you in class.”

 

Charlie doesn’t even _look_ at Elinora, much less talk to her, the bitch. Elinora and I sit there for a moment, sipping our drinks as Elinora slowly slouches in her seat once again, relaxed and placated.

 

“She likes you,” Elinora eyes me. “But you don’t like her. Which is good, I guess, because she’s really vindictive.”

 

Well, alrighty then. “What makes you say that?”

 

Shrugging, Elinora wipes at her mouth. “Just trust me when I say that I’m better at reading people than you’d think.”

 

“You don’t know Charlie.”

 

“Well, no, but-“

 

“You can’t judge people when you first meet them.”

 

Another flush creeps up her cheeks, and her eyes flick away. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

 

“She was out of line, though,” I sip my coffee again. “Sorry about that.”

 

Elinora grins. “It’s fine… _O_ -Kay.”

 

I pause. “Did you just make a joke out of my name?”

 

She smirks, leaning forward. “I don’t know… is that _O_ -Kay?”

 

“Oh, so original,” I huff, leaning back. “Tell me what ‘Elinora’ means again? Besides being overly fancy?”

 

“It mean empathetic,” she grins, then scowls. “A horrible choice by my parents, I know. Does your brother have a three-letter name like you too?”

 

“My brother?”

 

“You mentioned him. Said he was already graduated from uni.”

 

“Oh, right,” how does she remember this stuff? “His name is Gray.”

 

“Gray?”

 

“My parents were also weird with names,” I lather a scone with cream. “You know, this is actually kind of nice.”

 

Elinora cackles. “I’m going to hold you to that for the rest of your life.”

 

“You do realise that you ran away every time I walked into a room, right?” I tease, watching her flush again. “It wasn’t like you were jumping at a chance to hang out.”

 

“You didn’t like me,” Elinora mumbles, “and you’re not that social.”

 

“Not true, I’ve been talking to you, haven’t I?”

 

There’s just something really satisfying, and really confusing, about watching her blush and look away. But she isn’t wrong; I never really talk much, I’m not that social of a person at all. Elinora, though, once she starts she doesn’t stop. Yesterday she rambled for half an hour about the state of the cactus near the window and the birds that were in the gutters. She clamps up whenever other people are around, but it’s nice to be able to lean back and just… listen. I don’t know when things started to change, but this is a lot nicer.

 

____

 

 

“Home,” I dump my bag by the door.

 

There’s no point in saying anything else. As long as someone else is home they’ll now know that I’m home. And if Elinora is home then she’ll understand that I’m home. Usually she calls back, unless there are other people, in which case she just runs to her room. At least she’s used to Leo now; he and she get along fine whenever he comes over. She’s still a little awkward around Samantha and Jack but she’s mentioned that she likes them so she probably won’t mind if they come over again.

I pass her bedroom, and hear a hiccup.

 

Freezing, I turn and knock on the door. “Elinora? Are… are you alright?”

 

I hear her shuffling on the other side, her voice strained and shaky. “I’m fine!”

 

Yeah, she’s not. “Are you sure?”

 

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine. Just a tough day. I’ll be out to cook dinner in a bit.”

 

“You don’t-“

 

“I’m just gonna change and stuff,” her voice tappers off in the end, and more shuffling is heard.

 

“I’ll do dinner,” I turn away, and troop to the kitchen.

 

It’s not hard. There’s literally three containers of frozen beef mince in the freezer, all I need are some wraps and to heat the meat up. It takes twenty minutes, and Elinora shuffles out of her room, eyes red and wearing an over-sized black hoodie.

 

“Is that mine?”

 

“What?” She blinks at me, holding a sleeve up to her nose.

 

“That hoodie,” I gesture, and is my face hot? “It’s mine.”

 

“No it’s not, it’s-“ Elinora looks down, and winces. “Crap. Sorry, I’ll wash it. I thought it was my black one.”

 

“You didn’t notice the size difference?” Her eyes are ringed red, what happened?

 

“Most of my hoodies are big on me, so no,” she pulls in off her, shaking her head free once she does, and carefully folds it over her arm. “Sorry, that’s disgusting.”

 

It’s really, really not.

 

“It’s fine,” I scoop meat out of the bowl. “Want a wrap?”

 

“God, yes,” she slumps in a seat across the table, folding her arms on the surface and resting her chin on them as she watches me lazily.

 

“So,” I pull a packet of cheese from the fridge. “Wanna talk about what happened today?”

 

She sinks further into her arms, eyes darkening even further. “It was just a long day at work.”

 

“Right,” I place the wraps in the oven. “The plant shop?”

 

“Yeah,” I can hear her smile. “The plant shop. there was just… a lot of people there today. Not all of them were happy.”

 

“Customers can suck,” I pull out a chair and sit. “I work at Coles, so I know.”

 

She snorts a small laugh, nodding. “A lady was just really sad today, and it kind of got to me.”

 

“You say stuff like that a lot,” I check on the wraps. “You really let other people’s emotions effect you.”

 

Biting her lip, Elinora looks away, voice soft. “Yeah. They really do.”

 

Dinner is quiet. Work isn’t usually something big to talk about, but Elinora always usually has something to say about her day. If she’s gone back to being this quiet, this secluded, than I’m not really sure what to do. I liked talking to her; she has a wicked sense of humour.

 

“I think I’m going to watch a movie on my computer,” she gestures to her bedroom. “Thanks for making dinner.”

 

“No problem,” I put the last dish away. “Hey, do you want to watch it out here and eat ice-cream?”

 

Pausing, Elinora eyes the couch. “You know what? That sounds amazing.”

 

“Great,” I slam the dishwasher shut. “I’ll get the spoon and the tub. You get your computer and a blanket.”

 

I don’t need to be judged for watching a movie with another girl, under one blanket, with a tub of ice-cream held between us. Even if her side is pressed against mine, her head near my shoulder and crazy hair soft against where it tickles my neck. I don’t need to be judged for this, and I don’t need to try to explain it. She’s nice, she’s smart and she’s chatty. She’s weird and quiet when you first meet her, yeah, but we’ve been living together two months now and she’s just… she’s just fun to be around.

 

“Can you pass a tissue?” Elinora gently nudges me. “Just so I don’t end up using another one of your jumpers.”

 

“What a tragedy that would be,” I pass her the box, and our fingers touch.

 

With that brief contact Elinora snatches her entire hand back and springs out from under the blanket, face flushed and eyes wide as she stumbles away. I stand up, placing the ice-cream on the table.

 

“You like me,” Elinora blurts, face caught between disbelief and embarrassment.

 

Dammit. “Why the hell would you think that?”

 

Elinora flushes once again, but this time it’s more indignant. “Because I’m an empath, you idiot!”

 

She throws the tissue, turns on her heel, and slams shut her bedroom door behind her. I watch the tissue slowly float to the ground.

 

What the actual fuck?

**Author's Note:**

> I would make this a webcomic if I knew how to draw TvT


End file.
